Body of Christ

  • Born and raised in Wauwatosa, de Guzman graduated from Christ King School before attending Divine Savior Holy Angels High School, Milwaukee.
  • She studied biomedical engineering at Marquette University, graduating in 2020, and now works for Rockwell Automation.
  • She recently bought a home in Wauwatosa.

Nicole de Guzman began volunteering with Capuchin Community Services in college. Almost a decade later, she’s still a weekly presence at St. Ben’s Community Meal — where the work is as nourishing to her as it is to the guests. “That whole community is there to support you,” she said. “You come away with something that you’ve learned or a reason that you’ve grown, every single time.”

How did you begin volunteering with the Capuchins?

Marquette has a program called Midnight Run, which is basically a weekly commitment to service at certain places in the Milwaukee community. The Capuchins’ St. Ben’s Community Meal and the House of Peace are two of the sites. A friend did Midnight Run freshman year and loved it, so sophomore year she said, ‘Listen, you have to come with me, you’re going to love this.’

Did you?

The environment of St. Ben’s drew me in right away. They serve hundreds of people a hot meal every night, and a lot of those people come because they don’t necessarily have hot food anywhere else, but it’s also that human connection that they really desire. Something as simple as a conversation can really make a difference. You walk in, interact with people, serve them drinks, serve them the food, help clean the tables, but just being in that environment with people who are so different from you and yet who are so happy and faithful — I fell in love with it.

What do you love most about the work?

The longer I’m there, the more I get to see people’s development. Those who originally came in who were struggling, you’ll see them get an apartment or they get a job, and being able to celebrate those successes with them is absolutely incredible. The other volunteers and the Capuchins and staff that I’ve met there have also inspired me. We’ve had a lot of very deep, philosophical, faith-based conversations that have helped me grow and have challenged me in my faith.

You’re the oldest of five siblings. What was that like growing up?

The youngest three are triplets, and they’re all six to eight years younger than me, so it was very fun and very chaotic. I joke now that I’ve changed more diapers than most adults. Family time has always been incredibly important to us, and we’re all still very close. Three of my siblings play collegiate club volleyball at Marquette, Iowa and Madison, and the volleyball nationals tournament happens to be in Kansas City over Easter weekend, so we’re all going to spend Easter together watching their volleyball tournament.

Volleyball is a big sport in your family. How many of your siblings play?

We all play, but I like to joke that I was the pioneer because they spent a lot of their time growing up watching me play volleyball, so they’ve been in the gym since they were little. Four of five of us have won state championships (Nicole in 2014 for Divine Savior Holy Angels High School , William and Luke for Marquette University High School in 2021 and Olivia for DSHA in 2022), and my parents played in adult leagues, too. It’s kind of our family sport.

Do you still play?

Yes, that’s been something really fun in my free time that keeps me active, gets me out of the house, has brought me a couple friends in life and makes me feel like I’m in high school again. I’ve done all sorts of leagues — I did a winter one, I’ve been subbing for a handful, and when the summer rolls around, I’ll be doing two more.

Who is your favorite saint?

I have two — John Paul II and Maximilian Kolbe. They both said ‘yes’ to God in the face of absolute fear. I went on the archdiocesan pilgrimage to Poland in 2023, and seeing both of their stories come alive in Poland was really inspiring.

What are you giving up for Lent?

I’ve done sweets the past couple of years, but this year I also gave up Instagram — I need to be done doomscrolling! I’m also starting the “Bible in a Year” podcast.

What is the best advice you have ever received?

A lot of the advice I was given by my parents and even my grandparents when I was little was that hard work and effort really does matter — if you want to get somewhere in your job, in your faith, in your life, you have to put in the time and the effort to see the fruits of that. Reflecting especially on my faith, that’s been very true. You have to put in the effort. As I’ve gone up and down in my faith throughout the years, as everyone does, the times when I was really strong in my faith was when I was putting in the effort.